Georges Laraque is not averse to beating an opponent to a pulp on the ice.

It's his job -- one he's very good at.

However, the Montreal native -- who makes his off-season home in Edmonton -- is also more than willing to pass along his expertise to younger players, which is what he did with Oilers tough guys Zack Stortini and Steve MacIntyre this off-season.

"We train at the same gym together," said Stortini. "Georges booked some ice and asked me if I wanted to come out with him and I jumped all over the opportunity.

"Any time you have a chance to learn from one of the best in the game at what he does, it's definitely a great opportunity."

Laraque and Stortini spent time working on their pugilistic techniques, with the elder statesman showing the younger and smaller forward (Stortini is just six-foot-four, 220, as compared to Big Georges at 6-foot-3, 243) the best way to protect himself in a fight.

The former Edmonton Oilers enforcer, who now applies his trade in Montreal, is considered to be one of the league's top heavyweights, if not the king daddy, himself. Stortini, while by no means diminutive, is in a lower weight class.

"It was just a matter of giving him a couple of tricks and pointers from a veteran on how to defend yourself and be aggressive," Laraque said. "Zack did really well.

"I have two gyms in town (Body by Bennett) and one of those gyms trains hockey players," he added. "Some of those guys work out at my gym and if they're tough guys, I'm going to train them how to be tough guys and I'm going to train them on how to be better at what they do.

"I want to help them and do everything I can to help them get better and develop. They come to my gym, so I try to take care of them like they're my brothers."

Stortini, 23, is entering his third season with the Oilers. Last year, the native of Elliot Lake, Ont., had six goals, five assists and 181 penalty minutes.

"As a player, Zack is a really good player. He's a good skater and he can play hockey," Laraque said.

"He's not a one-dimensional tough guy.

"He doesn't worry about what people say about his fighting style. And when he fights heavyweights, big people like me, he has to know how to defend himself. The goal in a fight is not to get punched -- you don't want to get knocked out. So I showed him a couple of pointers on how to protect himself.

"It all depends on how big a guy you're fighting. If a guy is a lot bigger than you, you can't fight open, you have to be smart and you have to fight smart."